More details on the Vader ROTJ saber - Please archive

BTW, I did a little seaching and I found this...

Its not exact mind you. but the major features seem to be in the same place as the control box...

YJ-9304L.jpg
 
vaderrotjbottom.JPG


The gap in this picture reveals how far the bottom piece goes up to under the mid-band.
If the bottom is a genuine graflex part, I don't think they would've bothered cutting it, but rather worked around it's dimensions.
So can someone try to scale the length of the bottom piece and see if it's about the same as a graflex bottom?

BTW, I don't think it's a genuine graflex part, mainly because I've seen a pic showing surface patterns like that of wood.
 
Good observations, Imperious...but even before I read DS's reply, I was thinking the same thing:

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DARTH SABER wrote:
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Then again it could be the start of the "L" cut. . .
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graflexbottom.JPG


If that is indeed the L-cut, that would leave roughly this (look above) much room for the grips. After looking at a side-view pic of the vader rotj prop and then this pic, I think it's a bit shorter than length available on the prop. But that can easily be an illusion.

Besides, the L-cut being exactly where the gap is...I doubt it. If it's a genuine bottom then the L-cut can't be in that rotational position. However I'm basing this under the assumption that the clamp is also a genuine graflex clamp that is altered.
 
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DARTH SABER wrote:
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BTW, I did a little seaching and I found this...

Its not exact mind you. but the major features seem to be in the same place as the control box...

YJ-9304L.jpg

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Woo hoo! Nice find, DS!!!
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I'd be willing to buy one just to play around with it...who knows, maybe there's another one by the same maker that would require minimal modification for actual use?
 
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Brevin Din-Shay wrote:
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Woo hoo! Nice find, DS!!!
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I'd be willing to buy one just to play around with it...who knows, maybe there's another one by the same maker that would require minimal modification for actual use?
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Well, its not that close but somewhat similar....
 
To me the washer/round metal disk on the bottom is very obvious - the edge and thickness, though I've been looking at it this way for around 5 years. I can't see putty at all. It's a pretty smooth surface besides the scratches and gouges. There's no rippled putty look.

I've outlined it here:
<img src=http://mywebpages.comcast.net/lonepigeon/dvrotj_bott.jpg>
It's kinda rough, but you get the drift.

The edge is a rust color, the metal is very dull and it dips in the middle form the pressure of being sandwiched between the bottom of the tube and the Kobold bracket.
It's slightly smaller than the tube and the scratches on the top are vaguely circular leading me to believe it was a well worn washer before it was even added.
Why is it there? I'd say the most likely reason is that the previous D-ring bracket was ripped out somehow leaving the bottom damaged. Easiest way to cover that up or any holes in the bottom would be a washer. Granted it might be a little thin for a washer, maybe they just cut a circle out of sheet metal as a patch.

Why is the bottom a different color from the top?
I would guess because the bottom used to have six grips. They weren't just held on by two screws each. There would've been glue as well. I imagine it looked pretty rough after the original grips were gone. The top wasn't modified much since it was built so it's just got the regular wear.

Imperious - There is no Graflex clamp, so the bottom can be positioned whereever.
 
OK, here is one of the pics that Brevin wanted me to post (he only managed to get me one cos he's having AOL problems):

dvrotjrpfpic1b.jpg


I believe Dave is trying to show the inner screw/spring thing. I have no idea what that looks more like still...
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Separately, the endcap still looks more like putty to me. If I were to bet on it, this is what I would bet happened:

They had holes or problems with the endcap, and wanted to cover it up, so they took a chunk of putty, slapped it on, and then smoothened it out with a flat piece of thing so the surface is nice and smooth, and now up to the level of the lip so the lip no longer shows.
The scratches we see are the result of getting the Kobold bracket on it.

I also think the concave look could be the result of trying to smoothen out the surface by rubbing it, like someone else mentioned before. Of course the inner part would be rubbed more, hence the concave look.
 
THATS NO MOON!!! THATS A SCREW!!!!...just kidding...

Good pic Oohyeah, it definitely shows something threaded or coily in there..


One thing that makes me believe that the bottom is not a washer is that if you look at the rivets on the bottom you'll notice that neither one of them is positioned on the very center of the supposed "disc", but rather one is near the edge and the other slightly off center, this lets me bielieve that if there was a washer under the rivet they would have had to drill a hole on the edge of the already existing hole on the washer in order for the centermost rivet to be inserted. Now, while doing something like that isnt completely outlandish it is however very difficult to drill a hole which merges patially with another hole..
Would they have really done through all that trouble???

Anyhow that just says to me it wasnt a washer, but then again it could be a solid metal disc, but I still dont see that when I look at the photo.
 
I was going to go with ChrisÂ’s theory and say that it looks like a washer to me. But then I went ahead and looked at as many pics as I could find and while I still like the washers theory BUT it doesnÂ’t look to me like it is sitting on the outside of the lip, BUT it looks like the washers is under the lip of the tube.

I still like the idea that this is a real Graflex tube and one of the ESB graflexÂ’s that got converted. If I was going to speculate then I might think that is was a fighting stunt saber that had a rod in it that pushed out the back end of the graflex and then they had to add a washer to replace it, maybe they glued it back in with putty of epoxy.

Anyhow, here is a huge Hi-Res pic compilation, that is so big I decided to just post the link, LOOK AT THIS PIC:

http://hooverae.com/upload/files/DVROTJbutt.jpg

CLICK ABOVE!!!
 
hmmm... wow...

With those pics, I can now understand why there is doubt that the bottom is even a Graflex! Look at the texture of that thing!

HMMMM....

If that's not a Graflex bottom, then that must mean that the Luke ESB this (I'm sure) came from wasn't one either!
 
Nice pics Kenney, I think the photo on the bottom left hand corner shows that whatever is under the d-ring bracket is not sitting above the lip rim of the Graflex but rather even with it and dips down in the center..

I also dont see any silver or metallic coloring of any kind on the supposed disc...
To me it looks like a whitish grey..


BTW does anyone have any pics of the doorcatch area on this saber??
 
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DARTH SABER wrote:
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Nice pics Kenney, I think the photo on the bottom left hand corner shows that whatever is under the d-ring bracket is not sitting above the lip rim of the Graflex but rather even with it and dips down in the center..

I also dont see any silver or metallic coloring of any kind on the supposed disc...
To me it looks like a whitish grey..


BTW does anyone have any pics of the doorcatch area on this saber??
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Your welcome.

The disk looks to be Brass along with the rest of the tube, it looks to be painted silver in color or even a very old washers that is plated.

Yes, there are a lot of the door catch pics, what do you want to see? But can't we stay focused on one or two or even three things?
 
Hmmmmmm.....
Man, is it just me or is this getting uglier the longer we look at it. I mean it's always been the ugly duckling, but DAMN!

Per the washer idea:
IMO, it looks like what ever they put on the bottom ( I think we can agree there's something there) looks like it was soft when they put it on ( the blue areas) you can see where it "oozed" up and over the level of the lip. I'm going to have to agree with the filler idea there.

DVROTJbutt-obi1kenny-mod.jpg


I don't think we can rule out the Graflex base yet. If it was the ESB stunt, it got handled pretty rough, got dropped who knows how many times (we have shots of that) and who knows what else. If it was the ESB and they tried to buff up the bottom , they could have buffed/ sanded the finish off ( accidental or not) and painted it afterwords.

The red highlight shows where it looks like it was dropped on several occasions.

Great shots Ken! ( ps, I got my parts too, thanks!)

Darth Saber- Please let there be a bolt under the catch. I already drilled that hole!
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DARTH SABER wrote:
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I was just forgot whether there was or wasnt an extra bolt under the doorcatch...
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Yes, this is the location for the 7th hex bolt. But I am NOT going to put it on the next one I build for myself. The ballr catch all but covers it up and you will only see it if you mount the ball catch at a slight angle and drill the hole off center. You know, like that the "real" one!
 
I think the discoloration of the bottom half of this saber (yellow between the grips) is indeed residue left over from whatever adhesive was used to attach the grips in ESB...

I wouldnt be surprised if the stuff under the D-ring attachment is metal epoxy, it seems to match up with the stuff oozing out under the grips in some pics..
 
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obi1kenny wrote:
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Yes, this is the location for the 7th hex bolt.

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Whew, scared the hell out of me for a minute!

So, here's aquestion for the Uber-accurists:
How detailed are you going to go on this one? I've been banging up the tube and grips but I not sure about replicating the base like THAT!
 
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fried mon calamari wrote:
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So, here's aquestion for the Uber-accurists:
How detailed are you going to go on this one? I've been banging up the tube and grips but I not sure about replicating the base like THAT!
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Lets just put it this way, I want to be able to post a picture of mine and have people not be able to tell the difference mine and the original..
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Ive already been experimenting on how to get the right yellowish crap between the grips...
So far filling a cup with Krylon gloss clear coat and sparaying a bit of Krylon bronze seems to work...Then I just mix it, apply it with a paint brush and let dry.. Im also going to use my airbrush to get those frost white areas seen on some parts of the saber...
The D-ring will be brown also.
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